One important factor in Romney’s success is likely to be whether he can persuade the influential Union Leader newspaper to overcome its past objections to him the way they did for McCain. Not only did the conservative daily help boost McCain’s comeback by endorsing the Arizonan in December 2007, it also published a succession of editorials hammering Romney just as voters were beginning to closely follow the race.

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In an interview, longtime Union Leader publisher Joe McQuaid didn’t rule out the possibility of getting behind Romney – but he also didn’t suggest it was likely.

“We’re neither warm nor cold on Romney,” said McQuaid. “He’s one of the field and I don’t think it’s a bad field at all.”

If they can’t get the paper’s nod, Romney backers are hoping for at least détente. That could mean anything from endorsing a purist conservative who is not a significant threat to refraining from running front-page editorials day after day lacerating the former Massachusetts governor.

“Benign neglect,” quipped one Romney official, describing what may be the best-case scenario between the candidate and the paper.